DIPLOMA IN

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

MODULE LEARNING GUIDE

INTRODUCTION TO PROGRAMMING

Version 1: May 2007

Olympia College

Diploma In Information Technology

INTRODUCTION
This module is intended for students in the beginner stage of the Diploma in Information Technology
program. It is to provide students with a basic understanding of logic techniques and programming with
C.
Computers are affecting almost all aspects of our lives. With the development in the information
technology and the computer being in the forefront of all information technology, it is important for
contemporary human beings to become IT literate. Modern man can afford to ignore the numerous
computer applications in various aspects of human activities.
1. AIMS
The focus of this subject is to implement the concept of C. This subject is designed to further strength
your skills in structured programming and acquaint you with the principles and practices of
programming, through the use of C.
This course provides students with the knowledge and skills necessary to develop the C application
using Microsoft Visual Studio. You will be able to apply the knowledge you gain in the real life situation
when you actually start your profession as an IT personnel.
The course will introduce students to different types of logic techniques such as flowcharts and pseudo
codes to improve the logic thinking of students.
2.

OVERVIEW OF THE SYLLABUS:

The module is organised into three major learning sections as outlined below:
2.1. SECTION 1: Getting Started
This section starts with a basic overview of the flowchart with its symbols and tools in the
development of the applications.
2.2. SECTION 2: Introducing C Applications
This is the second type of programming design stage to introduce to students on how
applications flow based from the English-like language which is easily understood by students.
3.3 SECTION 3: Creating Applications in C
This section teaches on how to create applications in C.

3.

LEARNING OUTCOMES
On completion of this module, students will be able to:

Draw flowcharts based from the flow of the applications.

Write pseudocodes based from the flow of the applications.

Create applications in C.

Declare variables, arrays and operators in C.

Implement the concepts of delegates in C.

4.

AUDIENCE AND PRE-REQUISITES

This module is for students who are in the semester one of the Diploma program. There is no
prerequisite required to undertake this module. The students are required to sit and pass this
module BEFORE proceeding to the next programming language module.

5.

LEARNING MATERIALS:

Indicative Readings:
a. Stephen G. Kochan, Programming in C, A complete introduction to the C programming
rd
language 3 Edition, Sams Publishing 2005
nd
b. Byron Gottfried, Schaums Outlines Programming with C 2 Edition, McGraw-Hill
International Edition

Mod Learning Guide: Introduction To Programming:

Olympia College

6.

Diploma In Information Technology

ASSESSMENT INSTRUMENTS:
The following is an outline of the various assessment instruments for this module:
6.1 INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENT (20%)
There is an individual assignment element in this module. Students will be given an
assignment(s) question related to topics covered between week 1 and week 5 inclusive. The
individual assignments are usually practical in nature whereby students will be required to apply
the question to a real time scenario.
6.2 PRESENTATION (10%)
The students need to present their assignment on week 10 in the form of a PowerPoint
presentation or any other presentation tools. Marks will be awarded based on the quality of
the presentation, language etc
6.3. PRACTICAL EXAMINATION (30%)
Student has to choose 1 out of 3 questions. The question will be a programming question. The
student is required to write the program coding in computer using the application editor to
produce the output.
6.4. FINAL EXAMINATION (40%)
Final Examination is included in this module. It seeks to determine participants individual
effectiveness in responding to specific questions under time-constrained invigilated conditions.
The examination is a closed book examination, requesting participants to demonstrate their
knowledge and critical analysis skills in responding to questions covering the module syllabus.
6.5. ASSESSMENT TIMELINES
The coursework assignment is to be distributed to students by the end of Week 1 and its
submission deadline is no later than week 10.
Presentation will be held no later than week 10.
The practical examination will be conducted on week 14 / 15 and its duration will be 1 hours.
Final examinations will be held at the end of the semester, which is on week 15
6.6 ASSESSMENT CRITERIA
Refer to assignment and final examination marking guide.
6.7 ASSESSMENT DESCRIPTOR
The following general principles should be used when marking and awarding grade:
Grade

Characteristics

Above 70%

60-69%

50-59%

40-49%

Excellent work which demonstrates that the student:

Possesses an authoritative grasp of the concepts, methodology and
content appropriate to the subject and to the assessment

Selects and organises material with consistent success at an

exceptionally high stage

Is able to display originality and personal insight and is capable of

expressing their argument clearly, concisely and accurately.
The student demonstrates:

An above average stage of understanding, organising, interpretation and

a clear grasp of methodology suitable focused on the topic

An ability to synthesise material and to construct responses which reveal

insight and may offer originality

A grasp of material that enables a coherent response to the assessment

task to emerge

An ability to generate work that is accurate and appropriately organised.

The student is able to cover basic subject matter but in a relatively

unimaginative and pedestrian manner. Organisation and presentation of
material is acceptable but may display some weakness. Limitations in
understanding and interpretation and difficulty in linking to relevant
material may be evident.

The students performance is only just acceptable in most respects

revealing some inadequacies in the grasp of material, weak organising
ability and limited communication skills.

< 40%

The students performance is deficient revealing inadequate grasp of

material, poor organising ability and poorly developed communication
skills.

Mod Learning Guide: Introduction To Programming:

Olympia College

Diploma In Information Technology

7.

TOTAL HOURS:

28 hours of direct lecture & tutorial sessions

28 hours of lab sessions

150 hours of self and independent study

8.

INSTRUCTIONAL PLAN AND RESOURCES

The base source of material to be used in the design of the teaching-learning schedule will be the
print based module material provided to both staff and students. Other resources will be included to
supplement and fill in gaps especially latest development or recent changes which are obviously
not found in the module material.
CLASS LEARNING SCHEDULE

WEEK

LECTURE

Introduction to C programming

Variables,
Data
Types
Arithmetic Expressions

Making Decisions

Program Looping

Working with Arrays

Character Strings

TUTORIALS / ACTIVITIES

and

The history of C
High level and Low level languages
Operating System
Compiling Programs
Language Interpreters
Variables
Data types
Constants
Arithmetic Expression
Cast Operator
Combining Operations with Assignment
The if Statement
Nested if Statement
Switch statement
Boolean variables
The Conditional Operators
The for statement
Nested for statement
The while statement
The do statement
The break and continue statement
Defining an Array
Initializing Arrays
Character Arrays
Multidimensional Arrays
Array of Characters
Variable length Character Strings
Inputting Character Strings
Single Character Input
Escape Characters
The #define Statement
The # Operator
The ## Operator

The Preprocessor (I)

The Preprocessor (II)

The #include Statement

Conditional Compilation

Functions (I)

Defining a function
Calling a function
Function Prototype

Mod Learning Guide: Introduction To Programming:

Olympia College

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Diploma In Information Technology

Functions (II)

Functions and Arrays

Recursive Function

Working with structures (I)

Functions and Structures

Initializing Structures
Array of Structures

Working with structures (II)

Structures containing Structures

Structures containing Arrays
Structure variants

Pointers (I)

Defining a Pointer Variable

Using Pointer in Expression
Working with pointers and expression

Pointers (I)

Pointers and Functions

Pointers and Arrays
Operations on Pointers
Pointers to Function
Pointers and Memory address

Mod Learning Guide: Introduction To Programming:

Olympia College

Diploma In Information Technology

LEARNING SUGGESTIONS AND GUIDELINES

WEEK 1

Over the week of lecture and tutorial, the focus will be to undertake the following:

Understand programming in C.
Learning outcomes:

To create and compile simple applications in C.

To apply language interpreters.

Readings and preparation to be undertaken by the student:

Page 1 20 Chapter 1, 2 & 3 from the Main reference text.

Main reference text namely:

Stephen G. Kochan, Programming in C, A complete introduction to the C

rd
programming language 3 Edition, Sams Publishing 2005

Refer to the following reference books:

nd

Byron Gottfried, Schaums Outlines Programming with C 2 Edition, McGraw-Hill

International Edition

Week 2

Over the week of lecture and tutorial, the focus will be to undertake the following:

Understand Variables, Data Types and Arithmetic expressions.

Understand cast operator and combining operations with assignment operators.

Learning outcomes to attain:

Create applications using Variables, Data Types and Arithmetic expressions.

Create applications using cast operator and combining operations with assignment.
Readings and preparation to be undertaken by the student:

Page 21 - 40 Chapter 4 from the Main reference text.

Main reference text namely:

Stephen G. Kochan, Programming in C, A complete introduction to the C

rd
programming language 3 Edition, Sams Publishing 2005

Refer to the following reference books:

nd

Byron Gottfried, Schaums Outlines Programming with C 2 Edition, McGraw-Hill

International Edition

Mod Learning Guide: Introduction To Programming:

Olympia College

Diploma In Information Technology

WEEK 3

Over the week of lecture and tutorial, the focus will be to undertake the following:

Understand the use of IF, Nested IF and SWITCH statement.

Understand the use of Boolean variables.

Understand the conditional operators.

Learning outcomes:

Write applications using IF, Nested IF and SWITCH statement.

Create and apply boolean variables.

Create applications using conditional operators.

Readings and preparation to be undertaken by the student:

Page 65 92 Chapter 6 from the Main reference text.

Main reference text namely:

Stephen G. Kochan, Programming in C, A complete introduction to the C

rd
programming language 3 Edition, Sams Publishing 2005
Refer to the following reference books:
nd

Byron Gottfried, Schaums Outlines Programming with C 2 Edition, McGraw-Hill

International Edition

WEEK 4

Over the week of lecture and tutorial, the focus will be to undertake the following:

Understand the concepts of FOR and nested FOR statement.

Understand the concepts of WHILE and DO statement.

Understand the concepts of BREAK and CONTINUE statement.

Learning outcomes:

Create applications based from this chapter.

Readings and preparation to be undertaken by the student:

Page 43 63 Chapter 5 from the Main reference text.

Main reference text namely:

Stephen G. Kochan, Programming in C, A complete introduction to the C

rd
programming language 3 Edition, Sams Publishing 2005

Refer to the following reference books:

nd

Byron Gottfried, Schaums Outlines Programming with C 2 Edition, McGraw-Hill

International Edition

Mod Learning Guide: Introduction To Programming:

Olympia College

Diploma In Information Technology

WEEK 5

Over the week of lecture and tutorial, the focus will be to undertake the following:

Understand the concepts of array and how it implemented.

Understand the concepts of character arrays.

Understand briefly the concept of multidimensional arrays.

Learning outcomes:

Create applications using different types of arrays

Readings and preparation to be undertaken by the lecturer:

Page 95 117 Chapter 7 & Page 195 230 Chapter 10 from the Main reference text.

Main reference text namely:

Stephen G. Kochan, Programming in C, A complete introduction to the C

rd
programming language 3 Edition, Sams Publishing 2005

Refer to the following reference books:

nd

Byron Gottfried, Schaums Outlines Programming with C 2 Edition, McGraw-Hill

International Edition

WEEK 6

Over the week of lecture and tutorial, the focus will be to undertake the following:

Understand the arrays of characters.

Getting to know different types of escape characters.

Learning outcomes to attain:

Create variable length character strings.

Create application on inputting character strings.

Create single character input.

Readings and preparation to be undertaken by the lecturer:

Page 95 117 Chapter 7 & Page 195 230 Chapter 10 from the Main reference text.

Main reference text namely:

Stephen G. Kochan, Programming in C, A complete introduction to the C

rd
programming language 3 Edition, Sams Publishing 2005

Refer to the following reference books:

nd

Byron Gottfried, Schaums Outlines Programming with C 2 Edition, McGraw-Hill

International Edition

Mod Learning Guide: Introduction To Programming:

Olympia College

Diploma In Information Technology

WEEK 7

Over the week of lecture and tutorial, the focus will be to undertake the following:

Understand the #define statement.

Understand the # and ## operator.

Learning outcomes to attain:

Create application on # and ## operator.

Readings and preparation to be undertaken by the student:

Page 119 162 Chapter 8 & Page 299 319 Chapter 13 from Main reference text.

Main reference text namely:

Stephen G. Kochan, Programming in C, A complete introduction to the C

rd
programming language 3 Edition, Sams Publishing 2005

Refer to the following reference books:

nd

Byron Gottfried, Schaums Outlines Programming with C 2 Edition, McGraw-Hill

International Edition

WEEK 8

Over the week of lecture and tutorial, the focus will be to undertake the following:

Understand the importance of #include statement.

Understand the conditional compilation.

Learning outcomes to attain:

Create application on #include statement and conditional compilation.

Readings and preparation to be undertaken by the student:

Page 119 162 Chapter 8 & Page 299 319 Chapter 13 from Main reference text.

Main reference text namely:

Stephen G. Kochan, Programming in C, A complete introduction to the C

rd
programming language 3 Edition, Sams Publishing 2005

Refer to the following reference books:

nd

Byron Gottfried, Schaums Outlines Programming with C 2 Edition, McGraw-Hill

International Edition

WEEK 9

Over the week of lecture and tutorial, the focus will be to undertake the following:

Understand the use of functions.

Understand defining and calling a function.

Understand function prototype

Learning outcomes to attain:

Create application on functions.

Create application on recursive function.

Readings and preparation to be undertaken by the student:

Page 119 162 Chapter 8 & Page 299 319 Chapter 13 from Main reference text.

Main reference text namely:

Stephen G. Kochan, Programming in C, A complete introduction to the C

rd
programming language 3 Edition, Sams Publishing 2005

Mod Learning Guide: Introduction To Programming:

Olympia College

Diploma In Information Technology

Refer to the following reference books:

nd

Byron Gottfried, Schaums Outlines Programming with C 2 Edition, McGraw-Hill

International Edition

WEEK 10

Over the week of lecture and tutorial, the focus will be to undertake the following:

Understand the concept of arrays in function.

Learning outcomes to attain:

Create application on functions.

Create application on recursive function.

Readings and preparation to be undertaken by the student:

Page 119 162 Chapter 8 & Page 299 319 Chapter 13 from Main reference text.

Main reference text namely:

Stephen G. Kochan, Programming in C, A complete introduction to the C

rd
programming language 3 Edition, Sams Publishing 2005

Refer to the following reference books:

nd

Byron Gottfried, Schaums Outlines Programming with C 2 Edition, McGraw-Hill

International Edition

WEEK 11

Over the week of lecture and tutorial, the focus will be to undertake the following:

Understand the concept of functions and structures.

Learning outcomes to attain:

Create application on initializing structures.

Create array of structures.

Readings and preparation to be undertaken by the student:

Page 165 191 Chapter 9 from Main reference text.

Main reference text namely:

Stephen G. Kochan, Programming in C, A complete introduction to the C

rd
programming language 3 Edition, Sams Publishing 2005

Refer to the following reference books:

nd

Byron Gottfried, Schaums Outlines Programming with C 2 Edition, McGraw-Hill

International Edition

WEEK 12

Over the week of lecture and tutorial, the focus will be to undertake the following:

Understand the structure variants.

Learning outcomes to attain:

Create application to combine structure with another structures.

Create application to combine arrays with structures.

Readings and preparation to be undertaken by the student:

Page 165 191 Chapter 9 from Main reference text.

Mod Learning Guide: Introduction To Programming:

10

Olympia College

Diploma In Information Technology

Main reference text namely:

Stephen G. Kochan, Programming in C, A complete introduction to the C

rd
programming language 3 Edition, Sams Publishing 2005
Refer to the following reference books:
nd

Byron Gottfried, Schaums Outlines Programming with C 2 Edition, McGraw-Hill

International Edition

WEEK 13

Over the week of lecture and tutorial, the focus will be to undertake the following:

Understand how pointer variable is defined.

Understand pointer in expression.

Learning outcomes to attain:

Apply pointers and expression.

Readings and preparation to be undertaken by the student:

Page 235 253 Chapter 11 from Main reference text.

Main reference text namely:

Stephen G. Kochan, Programming in C, A complete introduction to the C

rd
programming language 3 Edition, Sams Publishing 2005

Refer to the following reference books:

nd

Byron Gottfried, Schaums Outlines Programming with C 2 Edition, McGraw-Hill

International Edition

WEEK 14

Over the week of lecture and tutorial, the focus will be to undertake the following:

Understand pointers with functions and arrays.

Understand briefly on pointers and memory address.

Learning outcomes to attain:

Apply operations on pointers.

Apply pointers to function.

Readings and preparation to be undertaken by the student:

Page 235 253 Chapter 11 from Main reference text.

Main reference text namely:

Stephen G. Kochan, Programming in C, A complete introduction to the C

rd
programming language 3 Edition, Sams Publishing 2005

Refer to the following reference books:

nd

Byron Gottfried, Schaums Outlines Programming with C 2 Edition, McGraw-Hill

International Edition

WEEK 15

FINAL EXAMINATION

Mod Learning Guide: Introduction To Programming:

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